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LAPORTE, Ind. (AP) Â? Facing mounting debt and with no news of her husband, the wife of kidnapped businessman Jeffrey Ake had started bankruptcy proceedings for the water bottling company he founded and ran until he was abducted in Iraq in April 2005. Liliana Ake also has again put on the market the lakeside home she shares with the couple's four children. "I can't afford (the house)," Ake told the Post-Tribune of Merrillville for a story Sunday. "I have young children and a sick mother to take care of. I have some tough decisions to make.

MERRILLVILLE, Ind. (AP) -- New inns at Indiana Dunes and two other state parks would have at least 75 rooms and could carry the brand of a national lodging chain, a top Indiana Department of Natural Resources administrator said. The inns proposed for Indiana Dunes, Potato Creek and Versailles State Parks must be full-service, meaning that they would have at least 75 rooms, a restaurant, and recreation and meeting space, said Gary Miller, assistant director of Indiana State Parks and Reservoirs.

GARY (AP) -- A wooden model of the steel Picasso sculpture that is a Chicago landmark has been languishing unnoticed inside a Gary school cafeteria. Now, one man hopes the replica -- based off a 42-inch piece by Pablo Picasso -- could prove to be a hidden treasure that could help Gary reclaim a part of its art history. James Nowacki said he believed the model in the Gary Career Center could be worth as much as $1 million and wants the city's school board to put it up for sale so it can be housed in a more appropriate setting.

Homicides rise in St. Joseph County in 2008. GARY (AP) -- The number of homicides in Gary fell significantly to less than one per week last year but remained high enough to rank it second only to New Orleans as the city with the most homicides per capita, a report Friday said. The impoverished city along Lake Michigan recorded 51 homicides during 2008 -- down 28 percent from the 71 recorded during 2007 -- but the rate of 50.09 homicides per 100,000 residents ranked only below New Orleans' 54.7 last year, the Post-Tribune of Merrillville reported.

HAMMOND -- Organizers of the South Shore Air Show in Gary say this year's event has been canceled because of federal budget cuts. The Post-Tribune of Merrillville and The Times of Munster report organizers blame the impact of the automatic federal spending cuts that have gone into effect. South Shore Convention & Visitors Authority President and CEO Speros Batistatos says the cuts meant the show would have had to pay for air traffic controllers to present aerial demonstrations by aircraft such as F-22 fighter jets.

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- Police said nine Valparaiso High School students have been implicated in a prescription drug abuse investigation after three students allegedly became ill at school after taking pills. The Post-Tribune of Merrillville reported Thursday that four students were charged with dealing in the drugs and detained at the Porter County Juvenile Detention Center. Five others were referred to juvenile probation for illegal possession of a controlled substance and released to their parents.

HAMMOND - A Lake County commissioner wants Northern Indiana Public Service Co.'s proposed 7.9 percent electric rate increase rejected, but a utility spokesman says it's necessary. The Times of Munster and the Merrillville Post-Tribune report about 150 people spoke out on the rate increase Thursday during a public hearing in Hammond. Lake County commissioner Gerry Scheub questioned the value of a rate increase when people are losing their homes. He noted that 15,000 county parcels are being sold for back taxes.

GARY -- Gary-Chicago International Airport is halfway toward earning a $1 million award from the Federal Aviation Authority for passenger air service. Interim airport Director Steve Landry said Tuesday a forecast shows Allegiant Air has sold or booked about 5,000 seats since it began nonstop passenger flights two days a week, Thursdays and Sundays, to Orlando Sanford International Airport in Florida in mid-February. The Post-Tribune reports that if 10,000 or more passengers fly from Gary, the airport would receive the $1 million.

GARY - The Gary-Chicago International Airport is getting a $30 million boost toward its plans to lengthen its main runway so that it can handle larger planes. The Gary airport board voted Wednesday to approve a grant agreement with the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority. Officials say that grant had been on hold while the development authority reviewed the financing for the $160 million project. The Times and the Post-Tribune reported the airport expansion plan calls for extending the 7,000-foot runway to 8,900 feet, which requires moving some nearby railroad lines.